4 reasons the Buffalo Bills are the best team in the AFC East this season

The Buffalo Bills lost a lot in terms of leadership and skill from a season ago with Gabe Davis, Jordan Poyer, and Mitch Morse to name a few leaving in free agency as well as the shocker of a trade between the Bills and the Houston Texans that sent Stefon Diggs to the Lone Star state. The Bills are going to be different than what we’ve seen in years past.

To think that the Buffalo Bills are just going to be left for dead like this is a lost season is comical on many levels. The NFL is an ‘anything can happen’ league and there is parody from week to week. The Bills have a strength of schedule ranked tied for sixth. Their opponents combined 2023 record is 149-140, a .516 win percentage. That is very manageable. There may be reasons to doubt Buffalo in 2024 but there are reasons to believe in them to win the AFC East for a fifth season.

4 reasons the Buffalo Bills are the best team in the AFC East this season

The hype machine is in overdrive for Miami and New York

The New York Jets have six primetime games in the first 11 weeks of the season in 2024. According to ESPN, Mike North, the NFL’s vice president of broadcast planning said, “the Jets kind of owe us one.” Aaron Rodgers is coming off a torn Achilles and is 40 years old.

He was also considered to be a potential running mate on a US Presidential campaign! Too much Aaron Rodgers drama for this team to take this division. Since the AFC East’s inception in 1970, the New York Jets have only won the division twice. The Colts have won the AFC East six times and haven’t been in the division since 2002.

The Miami Dolphins have a new weapon for QB Tua Tagovailoa, Odell Beckham Jr. This seemingly vaults Miami ahead of Buffalo for some reason unbeknownst to me. Odell Beckham last season with Baltimore had 565 yards and three touchdowns. His name carries more weight than his numbers do at this point in his career. Also, Tua Tagovailoa has a 12-6 record against the AFC East in his career, all six losses are against the Bills.

The Bills still have Josh Allen

Josh Allen is still on the Bills. Josh Allen is second to Patrick Mahomes in odds to win MVP this season. Allen put up the fourth most passing yards in 2023 (4,306) with Stefon Diggs not having a 100-yard receiving game since week 6.

Everything runs through Allen, and 2024 will be more of the same even with new pieces around him. Until Josh Allen shows he can’t lead this team anymore there is no reason to think that he won’t this season.

Sean McDermott can still get the most out of this team

Head coach Sean McDermott got a lot of flack last season after firing Ken Dorsey. Everyone, myself included, thought this could be the end of his time in Buffalo. Then, the Bills with new offensive coordinator Joe Brady, went 6-1 to close the season to win the division against Miami in Week 18. We can all say what we will about McDermott and his game management, but his way to keep a team together and focused is truly remarkable. No reason to think he can’t do it again in 2024.

We don’t really know what Joe Brady’s offense will look like

Maybe we caught a glimpse of what to expect of Joe Brady’s offense in the nine games he had as play caller in 2023. Or maybe we didn’t. it is got to be assumed Joe Brady will try to really make the offense his own in 2024.

It is assumed Brady was using Ken Dorsey’s playbook and used it very well. 2024 is when Joe Brady will try to put his own mark on the offense. He already has Josh Allen so it probably won’t be hard. The Bills added a lot of pieces on offense that will fit into a role, which usually means the ball is getting spread around a lot more than maybe it was last season.